A New Chapter

Being that tonight is the last time that I write in here, I was hoping to finally include a really nice family photo. However, as now the 4 of us are all incredibly sick there is just no way. I certainly don't want to see myself in my pyjamas looking like death warmed up, and I'm certain that no one else wants to see that either. I was doing alright last night thinking that I had escaped the sickness that had plagued my 3 men, but when I realised that neither of my little boys were going to sleep through the night, I knew that things had got me. I had 90 minutes sleep last night and that was distributed intermittently amongst the night.

Evidently I cancelled my client for the day because I simply could not move, let alone work. Moving on, our day was spent sleeping, drinking fluids, dealing with tissues and addressing kids with a fever. On a positive note, by the end of the day both boys were feeling a little better, and so was my husband. I'll be much better once I get some sleep and all my joints stop hurting.

I have had fun writing over the year. It will be a little sad to finish up writing in here, but I want to move on to something different. I challenged myself and set a goal, and achieved it so I'm excited about what I decide to do next. I will have another blog, and once my mushed up brain gets some clarity I'll let you know what I decide to do. Stay tuned for a new chapter.

There is one thing that I would have loved to have written about throughout the year, and that's an entry from Bailey's perspective. Upon reflection though I realised the post would have gone something like this.

        I'm Bailey and I love destruction. I also love to wake up really early when it's still dark outside and tell mummy to make train tracks for all my trains. I can make them but I like to see mummy make them through half opened eyes. I also like to hear mummy tell me that it's too early and that I should be asleep. That's no fun. I'm having fun watching mummy struggling to meet my demands. As soon as mummy has made what could possibly be the best train track ever, I destroy it. I could play with it but destroying it is so much better. The rest of the day involves me refusing to sit at the table to eat any food. I like to walk about 5 kilometres around the house before I eat any food. Then I like to run. I run inside, outside and anywhere that my little legs will carry me. I like to see mummy run too. She does well to keep up to me when my ultimate goal is to run as fast and as far away as I can. Well done. I destroy things. My big brother Brandon builds things and I love to destroy it. In fact my eyes light up when I see anyone attempting to build something. It gives me great pleasure and is an endless source of entertainment. Then I go to bed and wake up the next day and do it all over again. I have a great life!

And so I say farewell. Thanks to everyone who has ever read what I wrote. I look forward to one day sitting down with the 2 boys and flicking through the pages of our life together. I look forward to seeing what the boys get up to in their life. At the moment Brandon wants to be a daddy and an artist. I'm not sure what Bailey wants to do yet but I think he'll either own a confetti factory and rip up paper all day, own a running track and run all day or own a destruction company and destroy things all day. I love you all my beautiful family and I wish everyone all the very best in health and happiness.

Remembering The Year

This is my second last post. I can't believe that it's been 1 year since I started writing in here. I still remember the night I started writing. The football was on and my husband was beside me on the lounge watching it. Sorry sweetheart but I was looking for something more exciting to do than watch footy, and so this story began. After this entry I'll have to go back and re-read my earlier posts. It's been great fun keeping a record of all the things that the 2 boys and I have done. I' ve laughed and wrestled and run and had a great time. I've also cried, screamed and fell asleep many a time, but overall I've had a great year. I actually thought yesterday that I wish the 2 boys would stay just how they are at the moment. I hope that I can handle living with 2 huge boys when they are older. While I look forward to seeing what the 2 boys will do with their lives and how they will develop and grow, I also love them just how they are.

My husband stayed home today to recover from his sickness while I took the 2 boys out on an adventure. Our first port of call was actually my husband's job site to drop off a drill to one of his workers. That done, the 2 boys and I headed over to Bunnings to do our school holiday art and craft. The theme for this week at art and craft was pirate orientated and today while it said on the booking sheet that the kids were making pirate ships, they actually made pirate parrots. They also got pirate eye patches and pirate tattoos. Good fun was had by all. The 3 of us all then went to the playground at Bunnings and the kids just ran. 45 minutes later the kids were still running. They had met another lovely little boy that Brandon especially played with. His name, from what I can gather, was Michael. Eventually we said goodbye to Bunnings and I got the boys into the car, as I wiped sweat from their faces. They had been racing around that playground for such a long time.

Our next stop was to the hairdressers for the 2 boys. Brandon and Bailey were so great. I thought they might have been too exhausted, and they probably were, but they were the best kids ever. I was very proud of them. We came home and had some lunch before going outside and playing. Because my husband was home sick for the day I actually organised my afternoon client to come a little earlier. That done, I came out to my lovely family only to discover that my 2 little boys were looking like they were getting very sick. It's like Dominos in our family. Once my husband goes down with sickness, so do the 2 boys. Once the 2 boys are sick, down goes my husband. Touch wood I seem to escape it. No matter how much of a bubble I would like to keep everyone in, it's just not feasible. Hopefully tomorrow everyone will be better after a good nights sleep so that we can continue our adventures.

Smooth Sailing

The 2 boys and I had a lovely day today. It's amazing how much better things are once everyone has had some sleep. Plus, when Bailey doesn't have a tantrum throughout the day, the day is just smooth sailing. While the 2 boys and I had a great day, my husband had a terrible day. He is so incredibly sick that he even came home from work early this morning. Now he has only done that 2 times previously in all the 14 years that I have been with him. He's slept all day so hopefully once he does eventually wake up he'll feel better.

As a result of my husband's sickness, I have been the sole parent for the day. Luckily I love my beautiful boys and they me because we spent every single moment of the day together. Actually there was 1 hour when I worked, but even then I seriously contemplated cancelling so as to look after the kids. My husband convinced me that he would be OK while I worked, but I still set the boys up with many activities to keep them busy.

Our day began early playing with Lego and trains plus hanging out several loads of washing, just to mix it up a bit. Then the 2 boys and I headed up the street to the Community Centre where the local council were running Yoga For Kids and Parents classes. It was great fun because Brandon and Bailey each rode their bikes up there which I thought was fantastic. Yoga was good fun. Brandon loved it as did Bailey but after 20 minutes Bailey was hungry and after 30 minutes Brandon was ready to move on. It was good fun but the class was moving too slow and being that my boys have short attention spans, we were on the move again before the hour was up. The boys rode home while I ran to keep up. Brandon got ahead a little while I slowed down to give Bailey a push and unfortunately that's when Brandon got swooped by a magpie. I moved like lightning. It was like time just stopped. I ran probably the fastest I have ever run horrified as this magpie kept swooping my little boy over and over again. Luckily Brandon had his bike helmet on. I got both boys and myself beyond the magpie and then we headed to the park. Brandon was OK. My heart was still racing.

We stayed at the park for about 10 minutes before workmen drove up and started painting the park. That was our clue to move on I presume. Once home, the 2 boys and I guzzled water galore, regrouped and then headed into Myer toy department. I was happy to play at home but the boys wanted to head out again. Brandon counted all his money in his money box before we left and he took $20 out of it to buy a Ben 10 toy. He was so very proud. He had been saving up for so long and today he just wanted to spend some of it. He bought Water Hazard Ben 10 Alien. Bailey bought Gordon from Thomas and friends. The 3 of us then finally did the chores in the shops that I had attempted to do yesterday. Fortunately today there was no tantrum and no tears.

The 2 boys and I had lunch at McDonald's. Can't say I'll be eating there again ever because I found some unsightly things in my food. But the boys had fun as they played in the playground and intermittently ate some food. Brandon is hoovering up all food at the moment. He must be going through a growing spurt again. According to our measurements he has grown 2 cm in 3 weeks. Once lunch was over we headed up to the supermarket near home. Here we bought a few things for my husband's survival. Homeward we came and then to work I went.

The evening was the same as always but with just me manning the fort. Today has run a lot smoother, thankfully. You just never know what sort of day you'll get with kids. There is always the element of surprise. Hopefully the rocky roads are behind us and it's all smooth sailing from here.

Free Show For All

Today, thanks to Bailey, I took centre stage for a production put on by Bailey at the shopping centre. It's school holidays and it was lunch time when I was roped into the performance so I had a huge audience and then THE tantrum began. Today I was brought to tears. That's how bad Bailey's tantrum was. So outside the front of  Big W I had a screaming Bailey, a crying Brandon and an upset me and the world passed us by. Needless to say none of our chores got done because we all came home. Brandon had been fantastic throughout Bailey's saga. I was so very proud of him. He was upset at the end because I had put a whole heap of clothes for them all on lay by and  Brandon's were all Ben 10 clothes. He was missing his clothes and didn't understand that he had to wait for his things.

Once we arrived home I sat on the lounge for about 3 minutes before the 2 boys were telling me that I had to plant the plant Brandon had insisted on buying last weekend.  I wasn't keen to say the least because I was worn out from Bailey's tantrum. Eventually I planted that plant. The afternoon continued on and Bailey was fine. I have no idea what happened at the shop. It's a complete mystery. I went to work all evening and it sounded like the 2 boys had a good afternoon. My husband is sick again which is not good at all. I am still shaking my head upon reflection of my morning and Bailey's tantrum. Just as well tomorrow is a new day.

Encouragement Award

I just realised that I only have 5 entries to go in here, including this one, until I have written 365 posts. Wow! I think that I deserve an award. Maybe an encouragement award because I never ever imagined how big this would become and I never imagined that nearly 1 year later I would still be writing. My goal though was to write in here every day for 1 year about the adventures of the 2 boys and I. I'm looking forward to having all our adventures turned into a book. It will probably cost me an absolute fortune to print but it's a one off so it'll be worth it.

Today the 2 boys and I had a much better day. Again, being a hot day, I was careful not to do too much in the heat of the sun. After the washing and cleaning and phone calls, our first adventure for the day was travelling into Officeworks to go to art and craft. After our big long drive up the highway, the art and craft was a huge flop. It was just doing dot to dots and then colouring them in. Brandon and Bailey did them anyway and seemed to have a good time doing so. We walked around the shop a bit before heading over to the big shopping centre opposite Officeworks. I knew that there was school holiday activities on at the shopping centre I just couldn't remember what time. As it was we arrived when a magic show was on. Brandon absolutely loved it where Bailey wasn't too fussed with it. Eventually he did start clapping though and smiling. Brandon had to have a magic show poster so I got one for the 2 boys.

We ran around the shopping centre for a little bit until I caught Bailey and marched out back to the car. Once home, the 2 boys and I re-energised and typically, I did some washing. The boys and I built Lego and then we went and played on the trampoline. By now it was 3:15pm and the kids had swimming in 1 hour so after everyone looked hot and exhausted from jumping and running on the trampoline, I took them inside and refuelled. My husband ran in the door, cleaned himself up, put on his swimmers and came to swimming lessons with us all.

I actually got a chance to watch Brandon swim today as my husband was in the pool with Bailey. Brandon was fantastic. In fact he was so great that his teacher called me over at the end of his lesson and congratulated him in front of me. She said that his confidence was phenomenal and that he swam exceedingly well. She was so proud of him, as was I, and he was so delighted. Actually he was brimming with pride. He was even given an encouragement award. Something that I will keep for him forever.

The rest of the evening was spent with myself and the 2 boys hanging out as my husband fell asleep on the lounge. Just before I put the boys into bed I was in the kitchen filling up water bottles and I heard Brandon say to Bailey "Well done Bailey. I'm very proud of you". How lovely is that! I'd love to give Brandon another encouragement award because for those 5 minutes he was being such a great big brother and Bailey was being such a lovely little brother. Well done boys.

Fresh Start

Today I am looking forward to tomorrow. Again it was another very hot day and the 2 boys and I were meeting up with some friends to have a play. We headed off to the big school playground of the school that I think Brandon will go to next year. My 2 boys went bananas and that was our morning. In fact that was our whole day. I then went to work, regrouped and renewed my desire to be near my family again, put kids to bed and contemplated dinner. Tomorrow will be a fresh start.

To My Little Brother

This is a letter that Brandon composed to Bailey while I simply wrote the words for him on the paper.

     To Bailey,
     I love you Bailey.
     I like to play with you.
     I love to make things with you and I love you so much.
     I am going to go to the lolly shop and buy you a lolly.
     Love Brandon

I loved it so much that I just had to include it here. The 2 boys are such great friends but they are also great at fighting with each other. Brotherly love at its best.

Finally the 4 of us were all at home today and had a chance to spend the whole day together. It was going to be extremely hot today so we got moving early. Firstly we headed off to the local fresh food markets where the 2 boys jumped on the jumping castles and had a great time together. It was extremely hot already by now so we didn't stay at the markets for long. Everyone was very hot and flustered. Through all the heat haze, Brandon wanted to buy a plant. In fact he was determined to buy a plant. He settled for a purple and white flower plant and once we had that we were off back into the car where the air conditioning was.

We next headed off to a shop near the city to look at the price of a clothes dryer as ours had long ago past its expiry. There was a large chain retailer that had recently gone bankrupt so everything was being sold off and needed to be done so apparently by Monday. The shop was completely packed. The crowd was phenomenal but everything was so very expensive. We walked out with the money still in our pocket. Next we travelled back closer to home and called into the chemist to get some medicine for Brandon. Not surprisingly that short trip took us 1 hour. My husband spoilt the boys by buying them some toys. Brandon got a Ben 10 remote control car and Bailey got a very loud singing train. Brandon and Bailey were both very excited and once we returned home they ripped the toys out only to find that there were no batteries in any of the toys, as promised by the salesman. My husband took the 2 boys up to the local supermarket and bought a pack of 10 batteries. Both toys needed 9 of them.

While my men were all at the shops I folded loads and loads of washing and I still had several loads on the clothesline to fold.There was mass commotion once batteries met toys and the kids had a great time playing. Typically, Bailey ripped bits off his toy straightaway so now he has a very stationary train that makes a massive amount of noise. It also blows bubbles but Bailey got more enjoyment from tipping all the bubble mix out of the train and watching it drip down his arm. Plus my corresponding reaction instigated great enjoyment from his part.

The afternoon flew by and before I knew it I had rearranged both boy's rooms completely. They were really excited and Brandon even got me to draw an interior plan of what the design would look like once complete. Both Brandon and Bailey played beautifully all day and while I was interior decorating their rooms, they were both really great kids. As soon as it's time to brush their teeth however, everything changes and suddenly we have 2 very crazed children. Due to exhaustion, Bailey had another meltdown which the 2 of us did get through although at the time it feels like there is no end to it. Brandon was really lovely. While Bailey was crying and throwing himself on the floor, Brandon brought him over his train and asked him what was wrong. Thanks Brandon for looking after your little brother. It makes up for the metal toy train that you threw at his head last week.